1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plastic pavement drain for discharging to a catch basin water penetrating into a pavement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional water-permeable or water-dischargeable pavements can only allow water to penetrate thereinto. Recently, however, a multifunctional pavement has been proposed and has come into the spotlight because it can prevent water smoking or hydroplaning from occurring, shorten an automobile""s stopping distance in the rain, reduce headlight reflection in the rain or at night, absorb and reduce noise, and lower the roadbed temperature.
Water penetrating into a multifunctional pavement flows into a drain and is discharged to a catch basin. This drain is required to have gaps through which water enters the drain and a continuous space through which the entering water flows, and exhibit rigidity high enough to withstand a load exerted thereon when a road having the drain embedded is solidified and a load exerted on the road by automobiles etc.
A drain can be made capable of withstanding such loads by making it from a porous metal pipe. However, metal drainpipes are expensive and susceptible to corrosion over long-time use. When a road is dug up using an excavator for repairing the corroded metal drainpipes, the excavator comes into contact with the drainpipes, resulting in breakage of the excavator and/or drainpipes. The broken drainpipes cannot be reused and give rise to a pollution problem.
JP-A HEI 10-38510 discloses a drain comprising a metal spring pipe and a knitted fiber layer that covers the metal spring pipe. This drain is produced by preparing a spring pipe and knitting the spring pipe and a knitted fiber layer together. Thus, the producing method is complicated. In addition, since the spring pipes are made from metal, the problems of excavator or pipe breakage, impossibility of reusing the spring pipes and pollution have not yet been solved.
JP-A 2000-11924 discloses a net drain of knitted synthetic resin fibers. Since the resin drains can be recycled together with paving material, they do not give rise to a pollution problem. However, they are low in compression strength.
Technologies have recently been developed for enhancing the compression strength and durability of road paving materials. Water-permeable pavement is used not only for sidewalks but also for roads. However, synthetic resin drains of the aforementioned constitution cannot withstand the mechanical load exerted (by a macadam roller) when a road is macadamized and the surface thereof is solidified, are liable to be crushed. Furthermore, the drains do not readily maintain their predetermined original shape over a long period of time when used in thruways where there is much traffic.
The present invention has been proposed in view of the above. One object thereof is to provide a pavement drain of synthetic resin that is inexpensive and easy to produce and exhibits compression strength high enough to withstand a load exerted on driveways where there is much traffic.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pavement drain that is excellent in durability, easy to install and capable of being reused, and produces no pollution.
To attain the above objects, the present invention provides a pavement drain comprising a spring coil strap formed in a continuous spiral fashion and composed of a plurality of linear bodies of synthetic resin that are arranged in parallel, adjacent linear bodies being connected to each other at side parts thereof having a height at least one fourth a height of the linear bodies.
The plurality of linear bodies is two or three linear bodies.
The spiral drain comprising a spring coil strap composed of a plurality of linear bodies arranged in parallel and connected together receives pressure on its surface and exhibits very high compression strength. For this reason, it can sufficiently withstand a load exerted by a macadam roller used when the surface of a road is solidified after macadamization, retain its predetermined original shape over a long period of time, and maintain its water-guiding function.
Since the drain and the paving material are both petroleum products, the drain can be recycled together with the paving material without being separately recovered, when the road is to be repaired. Therefore, no pollution problem arises. Furthermore, since the drain is made from synthetic resin, it is easy to cut, resulting in no possibility of the drain entangling in or marring a cutting machine.
The above and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from the description given hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings.